Andrew Johnston
@andrewjohnston.bsky.social
Insect systematist fascinated by beetles. Assistant professor and Insect Diagnostician. Desert explorer.
I was late to a meeting last week watching these yellowjackets lick honeydew off of an aphid-infested maple tree.
November 4, 2025 at 3:16 PM
I was late to a meeting last week watching these yellowjackets lick honeydew off of an aphid-infested maple tree.
Thinking about buying a macro lens for insect photography? Along with @ageofarthropods.bsky.social we have been testing many options! Our results are summarized in 2 blog posts in the field www.insectid.org/post/macro-l... and in the lab www.insectid.org/post/lab-tes...
Macro Lens Comparison in the Field
As I continue to dive deeper into insect macrophotography, I have been exploring lens options and fallen down many YouTube rabbit holes and read probably hundreds of photography blogs and customer rev...
www.insectid.org
November 3, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Thinking about buying a macro lens for insect photography? Along with @ageofarthropods.bsky.social we have been testing many options! Our results are summarized in 2 blog posts in the field www.insectid.org/post/macro-l... and in the lab www.insectid.org/post/lab-tes...
This little brown beetle wearing a mite hat is Cryptophilus angustus - a pleasing fungus beetle that is often confused for several other families of tiny beetles
September 29, 2025 at 12:13 AM
This little brown beetle wearing a mite hat is Cryptophilus angustus - a pleasing fungus beetle that is often confused for several other families of tiny beetles
This hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) came in today with galls. The immature psyllids inside don't even look real!
August 21, 2025 at 12:15 AM
This hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) came in today with galls. The immature psyllids inside don't even look real!
Ever seen a mantis drink water from a paintbrush? Might have been the most fun I've had with a live insect that wasn't a beetle. Thanks to @ageofarthropods.bsky.social for the idea and help!
August 15, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Ever seen a mantis drink water from a paintbrush? Might have been the most fun I've had with a live insect that wasn't a beetle. Thanks to @ageofarthropods.bsky.social for the idea and help!
Two specimens of Megetra punctata from southeastern Arizona. Surprisingly the smaller one was a female and the larger a male - I think size is totally related to how much blustery ooze they have left in them and not correlated to gender. These things reflex bleed as soon as they are touched!
August 4, 2025 at 5:08 AM
Two specimens of Megetra punctata from southeastern Arizona. Surprisingly the smaller one was a female and the larger a male - I think size is totally related to how much blustery ooze they have left in them and not correlated to gender. These things reflex bleed as soon as they are touched!
Cottonwood stag beetle, Lucanus mazama from southeastern Arizona. This male stayed still for images which was very kind
July 28, 2025 at 6:51 AM
Cottonwood stag beetle, Lucanus mazama from southeastern Arizona. This male stayed still for images which was very kind
I’m always excited to find a long-lipped beetle (Telegeusis sp). This one is from Hank Canyon in southern Arizona
July 24, 2025 at 6:36 AM
I’m always excited to find a long-lipped beetle (Telegeusis sp). This one is from Hank Canyon in southern Arizona
The long-jawed longhorn beetle, Dendrobias mandibularis, from southern Arizona. One of very many cool beetles we are finding at this years Beetle Course!
July 20, 2025 at 2:26 AM
The long-jawed longhorn beetle, Dendrobias mandibularis, from southern Arizona. One of very many cool beetles we are finding at this years Beetle Course!
Tried out my new blacklight funnels I built. Got chased off the eastern New Mexico plains by a nasty thunderstorm, but less than an hour produced quite a few beetles!
July 8, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Tried out my new blacklight funnels I built. Got chased off the eastern New Mexico plains by a nasty thunderstorm, but less than an hour produced quite a few beetles!
Want to set up your own photo-stacking imaging system for under $3000? This post which outlines all the off-the-shelf items I used this year along with some recommendations for how to use it. Planning to talk about this at @entcollnet.bsky.social this November, too! www.insectid.org/post/focus-s...
Focus-stacking photography: Building your own system
Ten years ago, Alex Wild published a guide on Scientific American on how to make your own focus-stacking system for under $6000. I can't seem to find that post any more, just some secondary posts with...
www.insectid.org
June 18, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Want to set up your own photo-stacking imaging system for under $3000? This post which outlines all the off-the-shelf items I used this year along with some recommendations for how to use it. Planning to talk about this at @entcollnet.bsky.social this November, too! www.insectid.org/post/focus-s...
I hacked into a trunk of a Japanese Cherry tree sent for diagnosis of borer damage. These silly Camphor Shot Borers were inside (Cnestus mutilatus). They look like their backside was chopped off - but if you find them in their galleries you find out how effective they are at keeping them safe!
June 17, 2025 at 11:01 PM
I hacked into a trunk of a Japanese Cherry tree sent for diagnosis of borer damage. These silly Camphor Shot Borers were inside (Cnestus mutilatus). They look like their backside was chopped off - but if you find them in their galleries you find out how effective they are at keeping them safe!
I received a sample of Tuliptree yesterday with a concern for mealy bugs or aphids. What they had seen were these lady beetle larvae (Hyperaspis sp) which I always have to flip over to be sure about. They had been grazing on a massive scale infestation which had caused a thick sooty mold outbreak.
June 14, 2025 at 5:56 PM
I received a sample of Tuliptree yesterday with a concern for mealy bugs or aphids. What they had seen were these lady beetle larvae (Hyperaspis sp) which I always have to flip over to be sure about. They had been grazing on a massive scale infestation which had caused a thick sooty mold outbreak.
I learned two new aphids this week, both from black/river birch. The streaked river birch aphid was quite handsome while the waxy Spiny Witchhazel Gall Aphid has a super cool biology with alternating hosts (witchhazel and birch) and makes those puckered creases in the leaves of birch
June 8, 2025 at 7:38 PM
I learned two new aphids this week, both from black/river birch. The streaked river birch aphid was quite handsome while the waxy Spiny Witchhazel Gall Aphid has a super cool biology with alternating hosts (witchhazel and birch) and makes those puckered creases in the leaves of birch
Today I watched this potter wasp cut apart a leaf (Paranocistrocerus perennis?). I was trying to figure out what it would do with the leaf before I realized it was pulling out the caterpillar inside that had tied it shut!
June 1, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Today I watched this potter wasp cut apart a leaf (Paranocistrocerus perennis?). I was trying to figure out what it would do with the leaf before I realized it was pulling out the caterpillar inside that had tied it shut!
Carrot weevils (Listronotus oregonensis) are as derpy as most of their relatives. I like their death feigning pose that is in perfect bilateral symmetry.
May 30, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Carrot weevils (Listronotus oregonensis) are as derpy as most of their relatives. I like their death feigning pose that is in perfect bilateral symmetry.
These mites (Phytoseiidae?) feeding on an aphid are sort of metal. Not sure if they were sharing or fighting over this resource.
May 27, 2025 at 1:22 AM
These mites (Phytoseiidae?) feeding on an aphid are sort of metal. Not sure if they were sharing or fighting over this resource.
This is the European Shot-hole Borer (Anisandrus dispar) that came in a sample of Japanese Maple stems. This female hasn't laid eggs yet and can be really difficult to get out of her gallery if you don't split the stick correctly. Glad I took a Bark Beetle ID Workshop last week to figure this out!
May 26, 2025 at 12:58 AM
This is the European Shot-hole Borer (Anisandrus dispar) that came in a sample of Japanese Maple stems. This female hasn't laid eggs yet and can be really difficult to get out of her gallery if you don't split the stick correctly. Glad I took a Bark Beetle ID Workshop last week to figure this out!
Some days I get to play the "is it a bed bug" game as an insect diagnostician. Today, our client was fortunate enough to submit an Eastern Bat Bug - Cimex adjunctus. The fringe of long hairs on its prothorax (just behind the head) which are longer than the eye separates this from the common Bed Bug.
May 12, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Some days I get to play the "is it a bed bug" game as an insect diagnostician. Today, our client was fortunate enough to submit an Eastern Bat Bug - Cimex adjunctus. The fringe of long hairs on its prothorax (just behind the head) which are longer than the eye separates this from the common Bed Bug.
Its almost impossible not to find these fire-colored beetle larvae under bark of a nice rotting log. But the adults never seem abundant to me. This is probably Dendroides canadensis and has a few more molts to go before pupating.
May 12, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Its almost impossible not to find these fire-colored beetle larvae under bark of a nice rotting log. But the adults never seem abundant to me. This is probably Dendroides canadensis and has a few more molts to go before pupating.
Found this spider for #invertefest in northeastern Oklahoma. I should really learn spider IDs some day!
April 27, 2025 at 4:36 AM
Found this spider for #invertefest in northeastern Oklahoma. I should really learn spider IDs some day!
The golden goatee of this darkling beetle always makes me chuckle. What's it for?? Alobates barbatus and its fancy facial hair can be found throughout the eastern United States and co-occurs with Alobates pensylvanicus that looks almost identical, except for lacking this tuft of setae.
April 22, 2025 at 12:38 AM
The golden goatee of this darkling beetle always makes me chuckle. What's it for?? Alobates barbatus and its fancy facial hair can be found throughout the eastern United States and co-occurs with Alobates pensylvanicus that looks almost identical, except for lacking this tuft of setae.
This is the Peanut Beetle (Ulomoides dermestoides) that is a cosmopolitan stored product pest. It isn't reported as established in the US, but you can buy colonies as pet food from multiple places online. These things reproduce like crazy in a neglected mason jar with some peanuts!
March 15, 2025 at 11:30 PM
This is the Peanut Beetle (Ulomoides dermestoides) that is a cosmopolitan stored product pest. It isn't reported as established in the US, but you can buy colonies as pet food from multiple places online. These things reproduce like crazy in a neglected mason jar with some peanuts!